Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for delivering electronic mail through the internet and an electronic mail terminal used in the system.
Description of the Related Art
Recently electronic mail messages have been communicated through the internet by a wide range of users. The conventional system for delivering electronic mail through the internet will now be described. When a user individually wants to connect to the internet, the user has to connect his or her telephone line to the internet through a server located by a connecting company called a network service provider.
At first, the user places a call to an access point on a public telephone line where there exists a server provided by the network service provider through a modem that serves to convert analog data to be used by a telephone into digital data to be treated by a computer or vice versa. The internet has as a standard protocol called TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol). The connection with the internet (IP connection) through the telephone line is executed by internet connecting software. A series of connecting procedures that is employed is referred to as a dial-up IP connection. During the interval of the dial-up IP connection, the user's terminal is connected to the internet based on the TCP/IP. A terminal used by the conventional electronic mail is disclosed in JP-A-8-163269, for example.
Hereafter, a system for delivering electronic mail through the use of the conventional electronic mail terminal will be described. FIG. 15 illustrates the overall configuration of the conventional system for delivering electronic mail. As shown, the system is configured of a terminal 1 of a caller A, a telephone line 2, a mail server 3 of a provider B, the internet 4, a mail server 5 of a provider C, a telephone line 6, a terminal 7 of a receiver D, and a telephone 8.
At first, on the terminal 1, the caller A creates a mail message to be sent. Then, the caller A connects his or her terminal 1 to the mail server 3 of his or her contracted provider through a public telephone line. After the connection, the terminal 1 is operated to send mail data to the mail server 3. The mail server 3 of the provider makes sure of the destination of the mail and sends the mail to the mail server 5 of the provider located closest to the destination address through the internet 4. The mail server 5 temporarily saves the electronic mail. Then, the receiver D connects his or her terminal to the mail server 5 of the provider through the public telephone line in order to check if any electronic mail destined for him or her has been left in the mail server 5. If electronic mail has been left, the receiver D downloads the mail data from the mail server 5 to his or her terminal 7 and then can read the mail on the terminal 7.
Next, a description will be presented of caller ID. The caller ID is provided as a service through which a receiver gets to know the telephone number of a caller before picking up the telephone. The telephone number information of the caller reaches the receiver side as a modem signal before it serves to ring the receiver's telephone. The telephone number information is displayed on a display of the telephone providing the service for displaying a caller's telephone number. This service has been already implemented in the USA, England and Canada and will be implemented in Japan by NTT (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation).
When an ordinary user utilizes at home electronic mail through the internet with the dial-up IP connection, each time the user checks if electronic mail destined for him or her has been left, the user has to place a call to an access point provided by the network service provider for that purpose.